1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to computer systems and in particular to networked computer systems. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to remote network boot operations for computer systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Network computer systems are generally known in the computer arts. Also known is the general method for loading a boot image/file of a computer system from a remote server located across a network utilizing the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP). In particular, when booting a computer system (i.e., a network device) over a network, such as a local area network (LAN), the computer system's firmware typically utilizes the TFTP bootstrap method to obtain the boot file from a boot server/device across the network.
With this TFTP bootstrap method, a network support package is provided to assist with the network boot operation. Specifically, the network support package utilizes the TFTP bootstrap method to retrieve and/or define specific boot arguments required to access and retrieve the boot image/file at the boot server. The network support package also processes the boot arguments obtained from the computer system and establishes a connection with the remote server to obtain the boot file. General information about the utilization of the network support package to enable loading of a boot image from a boot server located across a LAN via TFTP bootstrap may be found within Open Firmware Recommended Practice: TFTP Booting Extension Version 1.0, which is published by the Open Firmware Working Group.
While the above TFTP boot strap method is applied to and works well within standard LAN-based and other similarly configured networks, such methods have proven to not be effective with different network configurations or network-types. For example, the TFTP bootstrap method does not work with an InfiniBand (IB) network.
As is known in the art, an InfiniBand (IB) network is a packet-switched, narrow parallel network, operating at a high data rate and at a large physical range, to interconnect remote devices to a host computer system (or server). The IB network comprises a host channel adapter (HCA), which couples the host computer system to a subnet. The network further comprises one or more target channel adapters (TCAs), which in turn couple other devices to the subnet. The subnet typically includes at least one switch and a plurality of links that connect the HCA and the TCAs to the switch(es). As an example, a simple IB network may have one switch, to which the HCA and the TCAs connect through respective links.
IB networks are often connected to local or wide area communication networks via adapters and routers. For example, an Ethernet network adapter may be utilized to enable communication over an Ethernet network. The network adapter has its own TCA, serving as an end node within the IB network for coupling to the Ethernet network. The IB specification further provides a raw datagram mode of communication to bridge packets received from an Ethernet network for transmission over an IB network, and vice-versa. Similarly, IB networks may include routers or adapters to connect to the Internet.
Given the increasing reliance on remote boot operations to complete the booting of computer devices, and the growing complexity of new networks such as an IB network, there is a need for expanding the remote boot process completed within a LAN to enable a host computer to complete a remote boot process from a boot server located across the IB network. There is presently no Open Firmware support to seamlessly perform a network boot operation via the standard network boot process of a network device connected to an IB fabric, where the boot device is connected directly to the IB fabric or to an external network coupled to an end node of the IB fabric.